Australians love our ocean pools - but they are increasingly under threat | Nicole Larkin

Coastal baths are on the frontline of rising sea levels and severe weather events, but they also tell a story of resilience and adaptationo Liquid assets: a treasure trove of ocean pools seen from the air - videoThe eastern seaboard of New South Wales is mottled with ocean pools that are clustered around Sydney and Wollongong and come all shapes and sizes. Set against sublime headlands and tucked into sweeping beaches, these simple swimming spots are understated turquoise sanctuaries. Human-made walls meld with natural rock and are engulfed by the surf twice a day. If our surroundings speak to us of who we are, ocean pools tell of our love affair with the water's edge.Ocean pools sit between the tides; they aren't part of the land but they're never fully claimed by the surf. In this no man's land of constant change they are outliers perched along the coast. In 2017 I began tracing the pools, travelling the length of the state from north to south to map them. Charting each pool's minutiae of contours, platforms, edges and crevices. Having completed this I have stepped back from the detail to read them as a collective. Seen together, our affinity with the coastline is clear, writ large in the rough-hewn concrete of 60 ocean pools. Continue reading...